Singapore's water agency says the new plant will have a capacity of 30 million imperial gallons per day, which would help meet future water demand in the city area and strengthen the country's resilience against droughts.
Channel NewsAsia 3 Sep 15;
SINGAPORE: National water agency PUB announced on Thursday (Sep 3) that it plans to build a fourth desalination plant, which would help meet future water demand in the city area and strengthen the country's resilience against droughts.
A tender for the provision of professional engineering services for the Marina East plant will be called, and the new facility will have a planned capacity of 30 million imperial gallons per day.
Located near water demand zones in the city and eastern Singapore, the desalination plant will also have the capability to treat freshwater from Marina Reservoir, the press release said.
“PUB has been making investments to build up and diversify our water supply sources in order to strengthen our water security. During the dry weather in recent years, we were able to ensure supply by increasing the production of NEWater and desalinated water," said Deputy Chief Executive for Policy and Development at PUB Chua Soon Guan.
"Building up weather-resilient water sources will help us be better prepared for possible prolonged periods of dry spells in future.”
- CNA/kk
4th desalination plant for S’pore
KIM SO-HYUN Today Online 3 Sep 15;
SINGAPORE — The Republic will build a fourth desalination plant in Marina East to help meet the demand for water in the city area as prolonged dry spells tighten the island’s water supply.
The new plant will have the capacity to produce 30 million imperial gallons of freshwater per day (mgd) from sea water, the PUB said today (Sept 3), adding that it will call a tender for the provision of professional engineering services for the project.
The announcement comes just six months after Singapore unveiled plans to build a third desalination plant in Tuas, due to be completed in 2017. The fourth desalination plant will be completed in four to five years, said the PUB.
Located near water demand zones in the city and eastern Singapore, the Marina East desalination plant will also have the capability to treat freshwater from Marina Reservoir, the national water agency said.
“PUB has been making investments to build up and diversify our water supply sources in order to strengthen our water security,” said Mr Chua Soon Guan, Deputy Chief Executive of PUB. “Building up weather-resilient water sources will help us be better prepared for possible prolonged period of dry spells in the future.”
Once the third and the fourth plants are completed, Singapore will be able to produce up to 160 million gallons of freshwater per day from sea water.
Desalinated water, or treated sea water, now meets up to a quarter of current water demand, which is about 400 million gallons of water a day. This could almost double by the year 2060.
During the Committee of Supply debate for his ministry in March, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan told the House that beyond the third desalination plant in Tuas, the Government is planning for more plants sited in other parts of Singapore, to be announced in due time.
Singapore’s second desalination plant, the S$1.05-billion Tuaspring – which is the largest seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plant in Asia with a daily capacity of 70 million gallons – started running two years ago. The first, the SingSpring desalination plant which can produce 30 million gallons of freshwater per day, began operations in 2005.
Singapore also uses NEWater, or treated used water, as well as treated rainwater and water imported from Malaysia. The agreement with Malaysia will expire in 2061.
Last month, PUB agreed to Johor authorities’ request for Singapore to supply more potable water to the state in light of the dry weather afflicting the state’s water supply. Water-rationing was implemented in parts of the city starting last Sunday and lasting till Sept 15, after the dry weather severely affected water levels in the state’s Sungei Layang dam. Since Aug 14, PUB has been drawn an additional 5 to 6 million gallons per day of potable water from the Johor River Waterworks it operates at the Kota Tinggi district to supply to Johor Baru.
Before that, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan had cautioned that with the water levels of Linggiu Reservoir — which enables Singapore to reliably draw water from the Johor River — at a historic low, the public should save water, and restrictions could kick in if the situation worsens.
PUB to build fourth desalination plant in Marina East
AsiaOne 3 Sep 15;
SINGAPORE - A fourth desalination plant is being planned, national water agency PUB announced on Thursday.
In a statement, PUB said it will call a tender for the provision of professional engineering services for the Marina East desalination plant.
Planned with a capacity of 30 million imperial gallons per day (mgd), the plant will help meet future water demand in the city area and strengthen Singapore's drought resilience, PUB said.
The plant will be located near water demand zones in the city and eastern Singapore. It will also have the capability to treat freshwater from Marina Reservoir.
Chua Soon Guan, PUB's Deputy Chief Executive (Policy & Development), said: "PUB has been making investments to build up and diversify our water supply sources in order to strengthen our water security. During the dry weather in recent years, we were able to ensure supply by increasing the production of NEWater and desalinated water. Building up weather-resilient water sources will help us be better prepared for possible prolonged periods of dry spells in future."
The tender will include the engineering design for the development of the plant under a Design-Build-Own-Operate (DBOO) arrangement.
Fourth desalination plant to be built
Carolyn Khew Straits Times AsiaOne 5 Sep 15;
Singapore will build a fourth water desalination plant to meet future water needs in the city area and strengthen its drought resilience.
Yesterday, national water agency PUB announced that it will call for a tender for the provision of consultancy services for the new plant in Marina East.
It will be able to treat freshwater from the nearby Marina Reservoir and produce 30 million gallons of water per day.
PUB deputy chief executive (policy and development), Mr Chua Soon Guan, said the agency has been making investments to build up and diversify Singapore's water sources to strengthen water security.
He said: "During the dry weather in recent years, we were able to ensure supply by increasing the production of Newater and desalinated water. Building up weather-resilient water sources will help us be better prepared for possible prolonged periods of dry spells in future."
With the new plant, Singapore will be able to produce a total of 160 million gallons of water a day through treated seawater.
Singapore's agreement to obtain water from Malaysia ends in 2061. By 2060, its water needs are expected to be about double the current 400 million gallons a day.
The desalination plant is part of the Government's plan to ensure that Singapore can meet 80 per cent of its water demand through treated seawater and Newater, or treated used water, by 2060.
To achieve this target, plans are well under way.
The third desalination plant in Tuas, for instance, will be completed by 2017, and produce 30 million gallons of water per day.
The fifth Newater plant is expected to be completed by next year and will supply 50 million gallons a day to Singapore's water supply.
Senior research fellow Cecilia Tortajada, from the Institute of Water Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said building a fourth desalination plant is a "very smart move".
"It's part of the strategy to build the water resilience of Singapore. The location is also an advantage because they can tap the water from the Marina Reservoir," she added.
PUB said the tender for the fourth desalination plant will be put on the government Gebiz website today. The tender will include the engineering design for the development of the plant under a Design-Build-Own-Operate arrangement.
In recent weeks, Singapore leaders have raised concerns about Singapore's water supply.
Last month, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, highlighted how dry weather had led water levels in Johor's Linggiu Reservoir to drop to an all-time low that month - of only 54.5 per cent of its capacity. The reservoir's water level affects Singapore's ability to draw water from Malaysia's Johor River.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has also said he is watching Singapore's water stocks carefully. He wrote last month on Facebook: "In Singapore, water will always be a precious resource. Never take it for granted, or waste it."
New plant ups water security
Audrey Tan Straits Times 7 Sep 15;
National water agency PUB announced last Thursday that it will build Singapore's fourth water desalination plant.
The new plant, which will be built in Marina East, will also treat fresh water from Marina Reservoir. It will have a capacity of 30 million gallons a day.
Building this new plant is part of the Government's plan to ensure Singapore can meet 80 per cent of its water demand through treated seawater or treated used water by 2060 - just before Singapore's agreement to obtain water from Malaysia ends.
It is a move that will also further increase Singapore's water security, amid a climate of increasingly erratic weather with longer dry spells.
Last month, dry weather led to a sharp decline in the water level in the Linggiu reservoir in Malaysia, which helps supply water to Singapore. The water level in the reservoir dropped to an all-time low that month, to only 54.5 per cent of its capacity.
Despite this, Singapore managed to fulfil the nation's needs while supplying additional drinkable water to Johor.
Over the years, the PUB has, at Johor's request, supplied about 16 million gallons of drinkable water a day to Johor. But last month, the stretch of dry weather there led its water regulatory body to ask for help, and Singapore temporarily raised the supply provided up to 22 million gallons a day.
Besides building more desalination and Newater plants to increase Singapore's water self-sufficiency, the Government is also expanding its rainwater catchment area from two-thirds to 90 per cent of the island by 2060.
The PUB, together with researchers here, is also looking underground for possible water sources.
But to supplement all these infrastructure efforts, residents must remember that they have a part to play in water security.
As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post: "In Singapore, water will always be a precious resource. Never take it for granted, or waste it."
